Carnival Time
by badly-knitted
Summary: At a loose end one summer day, Dee visits a carnival and gets a glimpse into his future. Written for fic promptly. Set pre-manga, but after the events of Vol. 6 Act 18.


**Title:** Carnival Time

 **Author:** badly-knitted

 **Characters:** Dee, OCs.

 **Rating:** PG

 **Setting:** Pre-manga, but after Vol. 6 Act 18.

 **Summary:** At a loose end one summer day, Dee visits a carnival and gets a glimpse into his future.

 **Word Count:** 1128

 **Written For:** My own prompt 'FAKE, Dee, Young Dee has his palm read at a carnival,' at fic_promptly.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

.

Dee was bored. School was out for the summer, his friend Tommy had landed a summer job at a hardware store, which meant working Saturdays, and Barry had gone with his mom to visit relatives in Philly. The girl he'd been dating had split up with him a few days earlier because on their last date he'd been more interested in a smokin' hot guy they met in McDonald's. Sadly, hot guy had turned out to be straight. You win some, you lose some, that's life, but it left him without a date for the weekend.

So now here he was, footloose and fancy free on a hot Saturday morning, the whole day stretching out before him and nobody to share it with. It sucked. Still, no point in wasting the glorious weather; hopping on the subway, he rode the train up to Central Park. If nothing else, there'd be plenty of people there, and maybe he could join in a game of touch football or something.

As he expected, the park was thronging with people of all ages, both native New Yorkers and tourists. Wandering along the paths, he came across an art exhibit, which was stupefyingly dull, several street performers, who were a bit more interesting, and then turning a bend in the path he suddenly found himself wandering among the sideshows and games of a small carnival. That was more like it!

Checking his pockets, he counted up his money, a grand total of eight dollars and thirty-four cents. Not a lot, especially considering the prices on the various rides and games. Most were charging at least a couple of bucks, and he needed to save some of his cash for lunch; a hot dog and a soda would use up more than half. Dammit, now things were starting to suck again.

He stuffed his money and his hands back into the pockets of his jeans and sauntered on along the path, trying to decide how best to spend three bucks and change, when a gaudy tent beneath a tree caught his eye. There was a sign out front:

Palms Read, 25c

That sounded like a good deal; maybe the gypsy fortune-teller could give him some good news. He walked over and stuck his head inside.

Dee had been expecting some wrinkled old woman, but the fortune-teller turned out to be a striking, black-haired woman of maybe forty or so. She looked up and smiled at him, white teeth flashing.

"Come in, come in, you wish your palm read?" she asked, her voice rich and oddly accented.

"Yeah, sure." Dee wandered into the shadowy interior of the tent, which was noticeably cooler than outside.

"Sit." The woman gestured at the chair opposite her at the small, round table.

"Thanks." Sitting down, Dee dug in his pocket and sorted out a quarter from his change. "Here." He placed it in her outstretched palm.

"Thank you." She inclined her head gracefully; she really was quite attractive for her age, in Dee's opinion. "Your left hand, if you please. You are left-handed, no?"

"Er, yeah."

Reaching across the table, the gypsy took his offered hand in her long, graceful fingers and studied his palm carefully.

"Your lifeline is long and very clear; that means you will live to a great age."

That was encouraging. "Cool!"

"You will never be rich, but neither will you be poor; that is no bad thing."

"I guess it could be worse. What about love? Am I gonna meet someone amazing and get married?"

"Not yet, I think. You will not meet the one you are destined to love for quite some time. There will be others before, but none of them will be right until you meet a very special dark-eyed man."

Dee sat straighter in his seat. How could this woman know he was bi? "A man? You're sure?"

She nodded. "A very beautiful man. You will know him when you see him. And here; you will have much luck in your life. I believe there will be frustration but eventually great happiness. Let me see your right hand now."

Switching hands, Dee leant forward, left arm folded on the lacy cloth covering the table, trying to see in his hand what the fortune-teller saw.

"See your line of health?" She ran a delicate but strong finger along a crease in his palm. "Very strong, healthy as a horse, you are! Fate now, yes, fate will be mostly good to you, your dreams are within reach. But ah, you must look out for pickpockets." Letting go of his hand, she smiled at him. "That is all I can tell you, except this; yours is the best fortune I have read today. It makes me happy. Live life and enjoy."

"I will. Thanks." Dee stood up and wandered back out into the sunshine, feeling more optimistic than he had; that had been twenty-five cents well spent! He quickly jammed his hands in his pockets again. Look out for pickpockets; yeah, let them try to get anything out of his pockets.

Ambling on through the sunshine, Dee let his gaze wander, idly watching passers by, until he spotted something; a kid about his own age, maybe a little older, was approaching a man who had his back turned. Deftly he slid his fingers into the man's jacket pocket and pulled out the guy's billfold. Dee was moving before he even stopped to think.

"Hey! Thief!" He grabbed the kid by the arm, trying to wrestle him to the ground and snatching the wallet from his hand, but the young thief was wiry and quick, twisting out of Dee's grasp and vanishing into the crowds. "Dammit! I almost had him!" Turning, he held the billfold out to its owner. "Here you go, sir."

"Thank you. Lucky for me you spotted him."

Dee shrugged. "Yeah, well, I have sharp eyes, and anyway, it was good practice; I'm gonna be a cop when I leave school."

"That so? Looks like you'll be a good one. Here, take this." The man pulled ten bucks from his billfold. "My way of saying thanks."

"There's no need…"

"Maybe not, but take it anyway; spend it on having a good time, or maybe put it towards your tuition, it's up to you."

"Okay then, thanks." Dee took the money. "Y'know, if you've got an inside pocket you should keep your billfold there, makes it harder to steal."

"Good advice, I'll do that. Thanks again."

"You're welcome."

Dee tucked the money away and straightened his shoulders. If the gypsy was right about the pickpocket then she must be right about the other stuff too. He grinned; all in all it sounded like he had a pretty good life ahead of him!

.

The End


End file.
